(Motorsport-Total.com) – In June, Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc signed an early contract extension with Ferrari. But his stay with the Italian traditional team was by no means guaranteed. In the official Formula 1 podcast Beyond The Grid, Leclerc revealed: “There were other options.”
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In the podcast, Leclerc did not go into detail about these “options.” He himself was not directly involved anyway: “I personally did not have any talks, my manager did. He is there to inform me about other possibilities. It is his job to give me a complete picture of what is happening in the paddock.”
So Nicolas Todt – son of former Ferrari team principal and former FIA president Jean Todt – went out to explore the situation with other Formula 1 teams. Nothing more. “In the end, we sat down with Ferrari and agreed quite quickly,” said Leclerc. He had already stated earlier that he never seriously considered alternatives.
How Charles Leclerc justifies his decision
So what convinced him to stay? “It just felt right,” said Leclerc. “Sometimes you don’t need any further explanation for that.”
Ferrari has long since become a home for him. Leclerc described the mythic brand as a “place where I belong” and said: “I feel comfortable here. Here I am most motivated to deliver good performances – simply because I love this team so much. And I don’t want to give up my big goal: to become world champion with Ferrari.”
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He has never lost sight of this goal throughout all the years of his Ferrari career. “I believe in this project,” said Leclerc with determination in his voice. “I think we have shown this year that we are innovative. We are very aggressive with our production plan and our updates. That gives me great hope for the future.”
An “important reason” from his point of view for signing again with Ferrari was also team principal Frederic Vasseur. “We have known each other for many years,” said Leclerc. “It has always been a privilege to work with him. I believe 200 percent in Fred. And that’s why I had no doubt that it was the right decision for me.”
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari record
Leclerc has been part of the Ferrari universe for ten years. Since 2016, he was part of the official junior program. As champion in the GP3 series (predecessor of today’s Formula 3) and Formula 2, he moved up to Formula 1 in the 2018 season and drove for Ferrari customer team Sauber. After just one year, he switched to the Ferrari factory team.
At Ferrari, Leclerc has so far achieved nine wins – the first in his Ferrari debut year 2019 at Spa-Francorchamps, the second immediately afterwards at the Ferrari home race in Monza. In 2024, he repeated the Monza victory. Leclerc’s best World Championship position to date dates back to the 2022 season, when he finished second behind Max Verstappen. (All statistics of Charles Leclerc in the Formula 1 database!)
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